As of Monday, 3^rd September, Cayman Airways has begun the use of Apple’s iPad tablet by its pilots as an Electronic Flight Bag and a way of replacing unwieldy and hard-to update paper manuals. In the United States, many airlines have adopted the iPad for use as Electronic Flight Bag’s and Cayman Airways is blazing the way in the Caribbean by becoming the first Caribbean airline to start using iPads as Electronic Flight Bags. The Cayman Civil Aviation Authority approved the use of the iPad tablets on board last Friday, 31^st 2012.

By using electronic charts and manuals, the safety and efficiency on the flight deck is significantly enhanced. This culminated from a 6-month test period whereby Cayman Airways flew thousands of hours with iPads to test and evaluate the product and necessary software. All pilots have been trained on the use of the Electronic Flight Bag and have embraced the iPads technology.

Captain Dave Scott, Vice President of Flight Operations for Cayman Airways said “We are excited to be leading the Caribbean with the use of iPads as the Electronic Flight Bag. This is a welcomed change that makes us more efficient and is the way forward in the airline industry.”

The Electronic Flight Bags will allow Cayman Airways’ pilots to discard the huge paper manuals they have traditionally had to carry around with them and update every 14 days. Now, they’ll be able to push a single button on the iPad and update their manuals automatically.

Not only will it save the pilots from having to carry around 30 pounds worth of paper but it could save the airline a significant amount of fuel each year, simply from the lack of the paper manuals weight.